Khalifa Haftar is using the narrative of the global war on terror to consolidate power. But taking Tripoli will not bring peace

With heavy fighting on the outskirts of the capital, threatening more uncertainty for thousands of migrants and refugees, Libya lurches deeper into crisis. The assault on Tripoli was launched earlier this month by the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by General Khalifa Haftar, as the answer to years of instability and entrenched divisions between the UN-backed government in the west and the LNA-aligned government in the east. But in trying to force a military solution, Haftar’s partisan campaign to “unify” the country portends further fragmentation and chaos.